whats your pension plan?

[bornatbirth]

Due to the changes in pensions which will mean i will be about 70 before i get a state pension.....what are your plans and what should we be investing in :Erm:

[branno]

well under the present tory government, id start saving a minimum of a hundred pounds a week for the next 29 yrs as ur only 41....and id hide it under ur pillow :xxgrinning--00xx3:

[Tawi2]

I have a very blase attitude to money,sometimes flush sometimes bust,I lost a LOT of cash earlier this year then made 24 grand in two days :cwm24: normally I am skint however,like a skint man in skintsville:NoNo: as long as I get my kid through Uni then whatever happens in my future?Bahala na!

[branno]

:xxgrinning--00xx3:[QUOTE=Tawi2;297133]I have a very blase attitude to money,sometimes flush sometimes bust,I lost a LOT of cash earlier this year then made 24 grand in two days :cwm24: normally I am skint however,like a skint man in skintsville:NoNo: as long as I get my kid through Uni then whatever happens in my future?Bahala na

:xxgrinning--00xx3:

[les_taxi]

My plan is work til I drop:xxgrinning--00xx3:

[Tawi2]

Its true Branno,my old man was fu**ing useless,he never gave me a ha'porth of encouragement,when I told him I wanted to go to Uni he told me not to be so stupid and to get a job :icon_lol::doh The best thing I can do to invest in my future is give my kid as decent a start in life as I am able :)

[branno]

i totally agree tawi, i couldnt agree more :xxgrinning--00xx3:

[branno]

My plan is work til I drop:xxgrinning--00xx3:

well les ... i do hope u dont drop tomoro... :icon_lol: theres a guy on the british embassy face book... from birmingham.. he died in the phils no one can pay to fly his ashes home... rather a sad state of affairs i think... even the british embassy dont want to kno.... but im not too sure if this is genuine regarding his death ..

[Peanutz]

Due to the changes in pensions which will mean i will be about 70 before i get a state pension.....what are your plans and what should we be investing in :Erm:

I'll tell you after I finish this book- the 4 hour work week- Tim Ferriss

[Englishman2010]

well under the present tory government, id start saving a minimum of a hundred pounds a week for the next 29 yrs as ur only 41....and id hide it under ur pillow :xxgrinning--00xx3:

The biggest pension robber of the last few decades was Gordon Brown. In his first budget as Labour Chancellor he took away the tax free growth status of Pension funds. One of the main benefits of investing in Pensions had been the tax free growth status of the funds. The profits the funds made on increases in equity values, and reinvestment of dividends meant that Pension funds grew approx 33% more than regular investment/insurance funds which had their profits taxed at approx 33%.

This helped to widen the huge blackhole that Final Salary schemes reported a few years ago, and ultimately means that anyone with a Money Purchase Pension scheme has to invest far more money into it to get a decent return.

[bornatbirth]

I'll tell you after I finish this book- the 4 hour work week- Tim Ferriss

that'll be great or a lotto win :D

[Peanutz]

that'll be great or a lotto win :D

Shall we agree with a lotto win:D
It's easier to buy lotto tickets for the next ten years:D

Joke aside-
We are investing in ISA and we put small amount of money in some high risk shares just for short period of time, we will probably move from share to share just enough to get something out of it. I think that the best pension plan is still to invest your money in property. i'm not a financial guru but I think property is still the most solid investment that one can throw their money on.

With regards with state pension- I already took it out of equation, as it will not give me enough to live on when I retire it is good if I still can get something but I doubt it, I do contribute for a private pension for £100 x month for the next 25 years and I think that will be enough as long as we have a house and no mortgage to pay and hopefully still healthy at the time I reach retirement age.:D

[grahamw48]

The way things are going now...:cwm3:

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http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/1198/trampinbasket6lf.jpg

[Terpe]

Serious stuff this thread.

The pension you need will naturally depend on the kind of life you would like in retirement.

You need to think about:-

Your 'survival' estimated monthly budget be for day-to-day expenses (Energy/Water/Council Tax/Telephone/Car/Clothes/Food etc)

What kind of 'life' would you want to enjoy above and beyond survival. Holidays can be expensive! Would you like to eat out now and then? How will you spend your time?


Just as an eye-opener and to throw some numbers around, for a modest £10,000 pa retirement pension income you would typically need a pension 'pot' of around £150,000

Remember as well that income tax is payable on pension incomes.


Peanutz, that £100 per month for 25 years would only be worth around £60,000 based on 5% interest pa

To reach a target pension pot of £150,000 you would need to invest more like £250 per month for 25 years at 5% annual interest

If you want a pension of £20,000 pa income you would typically need a pension 'pot' of around £330,000

To reach that target of £330,000 you would need to invest more like £550 per month for 25 years at 5% annual interest

Most people with only state pension as income will tell you that it's only very basic survival mode if that. Make no mistake it's tough!. That maximum full state pension currently stands at about £97.65 per week (£5000 per year)


Food for thought.

[KeithD]

I got my pension from the MOD at the age of 21 so never had to worry about retirement, for investing though ... horse racing :xxgrinning--00xx3: Turbo Lays – Fast Profits!! (http://www.win2win.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?73516-Turbo-Lays-–-Fast-Profits!!)

[joebloggs]

as long as its a sainsbury shopping trolley graham :rolleyes:

my pension - the misses, 6yrs younger than me :D

[scott&ligaya]

My wife has started three seperate business, 2 in Luzon (rice farm and piggery) and one in Palawan (small piggery) plus we bought some lots for investment in areas of Palawan that we know will be developed into what the locals are calling little boracay. Plus I hope to be able to still contribute to various academic programmes, magazines, master classes and other consulting engagements across Asia Pacific for my old HK employer even when in my late sixties. Just need to get my wife her UK passport so we can travel easier then decide if we stay here for elementary and junior school for our little ones or head back sonner rather than later. Like Tawi2 teh most important thing for me for the next 16 years is getting the kids educated. We have a fund growing for each of them which they get at 18.. I hope they decide to use it for some form of urther education but it will be their choice.

[fred]

I never trusted pension and saving plans and decided years ago to plan and design my own instead..
You cant beat a bit of DIY IMO!!:xxgrinning--00xx3:

[stevewool]

well my pension is my home here , like many know i and emma plan to be over in the phils oneday, so with savings and the house here we hope to have enough, but what is enough, i hope £150,000, cash and the house being rented say around £500 each month, i am talking in about 8 to 10 years time , if i survive this stress for that long:)

[Peanutz]

@Terpe,

Thank you for giving us some food for thoughts I seriously thought about your advice.

My meagre pension contribution is just for me to spend it on whatever I like when I reach my pension age- By the time my husband retires we are better off with his pension alone.
We have %75 equity on the house and we put away £2000.00 for rainy days pot-ISA-Shares every month- hopefully these savings can cover any unforeseen events in the future.
We are currently debating on whether we want to upgrade and get a bigger property or stay where we are and pay off the mortgage in the next 3 years and we will be debt free.
I'm a little bit cautious to tie ourselves in a higher mortgage for the next 25 years- it will mean that it will restrict our freedom if we decide to move somewhere else and mostly it will force us to stay in our job for the next 25 years!!! That is scary! only thinking about it freaks me out, but I may probably do that if there is no other option.
We are about to decide tonight if we are to put our house in the market or not- we've been debating this for a couple of weeks now and we keep on changing our minds- it's a dilemma- we are deciding between biting the bullet or stay in the comfort zone.:NoNo:

Maybe you guys can give us some insight and valuable advice.:)

[Peanutz]

as long as its a sainsbury shopping trolley graham :rolleyes:

my pension - the misses, 6yrs younger than me :D

:icon_lol:

I think you've done a very smart investment:icon_lol:

[Englishman2010]

Serious stuff this thread.

The pension you need will naturally depend on the kind of life you would like in retirement.

You need to think about:-

Your 'survival' estimated monthly budget be for day-to-day expenses (Energy/Water/Council Tax/Telephone/Car/Clothes/Food etc)

What kind of 'life' would you want to enjoy above and beyond survival. Holidays can be expensive! Would you like to eat out now and then? How will you spend your time?


Just as an eye-opener and to throw some numbers around, for a modest £10,000 pa retirement pension income you would typically need a pension 'pot' of around £150,000

Remember as well that income tax is payable on pension incomes.


Peanutz, that £100 per month for 25 years would only be worth around £60,000 based on 5% interest pa

To reach a target pension pot of £150,000 you would need to invest more like £250 per month for 25 years at 5% annual interest

If you want a pension of £20,000 pa income you would typically need a pension 'pot' of around £330,000

To reach that target of £330,000 you would need to invest more like £550 per month for 25 years at 5% annual interest

Most people with only state pension as income will tell you that it's only very basic survival mode if that. Make no mistake it's tough!. That maximum full state pension currently stands at about £97.65 per week (£5000 per year)


Food for thought.

Terpe's correct here, however a couple of extra points to add:

Anyone who is a PAYE taxpayer will pay pensions contributions net of basic rate tax (20%), the pension company then claims an additional 20% from HMRC and adds it to the contribution. What this means in real terms is that if you invest £100 PM, you are actually getting £125 per month invested. People who complain about pensions, don't usually understand them, but despite Gordon Brown robbing pension funds of their tax free investment growth status, pensions still remain the most tax efficient way of saving money:

Where else can you get an extra 20% of your contribution added by the government? you don't get that in savings plans, ISA's , savings accounts or investment bonds.

You are also allowed to take 25% of your pension fund as a tax free lump sum. Therefore if your final pot is worth say £200K, you can take £50K of that as tax free cash and use the remaining £150K to buy a pension annuity (regular monthly income).

If you're a higher rate tax payer, the savings are even greater, as you can claim tax relief on contributions at the 40% tax rate. You would still claim BRT relief on the initial contribution, and claim the additional 20% relief through your Self Assessment claim. The net result for a higher rate tax payer is they will get £125pm invested at a total cost of £80pm.

It's also worth noting that the modern pension contracts are completely different to the contracts from 10 or 20 years ago. Charging structure have been greatly reduced, and typically, pension funds will take around 1 - 1.25% of the premium to cover running costs, compared to 5 or 6 % in the past.

If anyone has been paying into a pension for more than 5 years or has a frozen fund (retained benefits) from a previous personal pension or employers money purchase scheme, it is worth speaking to a reputable IFA and enquiring if it is worth switching to a new style contract.

I've been a financial adviser for 20+ years and have complete faith in our Pension and Insurance companies, and despite what the Daily Hatemail wants you to believe, 99.9% of the people I have employed, worked with, been associated with in the Financial Services industry are honest, professional and act with integrity at all times, and aren't out to stitch up their clients.

However, pension planning is only part of the equation for good retirement provision. No one should put all of their eggs in one basket. My advice is to spread your risk and have several different investment strategies, such as Pension funds, investment property (buy to let), cash reserves (deposit accounts), national savings (up to your tax free limit), ISA's, stock and shares...etc

[Terpe]

.... No one should put all of their eggs in one basket. My advice is to spread your risk and have several different investment strategies, such as Pension funds, investment property (buy to let), cash reserves (deposit accounts), national savings (up to your tax free limit), ISA's, stock and shares...etc

:xxgrinning--00xx3: The very best advice in my EXPERIENCE.
I have a number of different pension incomes. I am now receiving them and looking back at their performance in different sectors.
There's a lot to learn when you look back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some OK
Some bloody miserable.
If only I had a crystal ball ........

[Pete/London]

I dont rate pension funds at all, an awful lot of private pension pots revert back to the company when you pop your clogs, even if you have only drawn it for a year or so, with nothing for your family. Government or Company pensions make some provision for this I believe.

Its better to have a large pension or none at all as the more modest ones will leave you in a position of not getting much help with age related funds. Look after your own money instead of paying men in suits to lead a comfortable life at your expense.

I am also biased as I paid into Equitable Life for 20 years before it went tits up and I lost a fair amount of my fund, and the fair settlement that Cameron and the Tories promised has still not materialised, like most of the other things promised.:angry:

[fred]

Its better to have a large pension or none at all as the more modest ones will leave you in a position of not getting much help with age related funds. Look after your own money instead of paying men in suits to lead a comfortable life at your expense.

I couldn't agree more Pete..
Work hard,Invest wisely and retire young.:xxgrinning--00xx3: